title: Steady state free precession magnetization transfer imaging.
abstract: The formerly proposed concept for magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) using balanced steady-state free precession (SSFP) image acquisitions is in this work extended to nonbalanced protocols. This allows SSFP-based MTI of targets with high susceptibility variation (such as the musculoskeletal system), or at ultra-high magnetic fields (where balanced SSFP suffers from considerable off-resonance related image degradations). In the first part, SSFP-based MTI in human brain is analyzed based on magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) histograms. High correlations are observed among all different SSFP MTI protocols and thereby ensure proper conceptual extension to nonbalanced SSFP. The second part demonstrates SSFP-based MTI allowing fast acquisition of high resolution volumetric MTR data from human brain and cartilage at low (1.5T) to ultra-high (7.0T) magnetic fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Radiology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. oliver.bieri@unibas.ch
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bieri
authors.forename: Tallas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Mamisch
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trattnig
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scheffler
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted